Kanzaburo passed away much too early.
During his funeral procession, the parade passed the Nakamura-Za and all the people who loved him dearly came out to carry a mikoshi palanquin in his honor.
This was maybe the first time of such an outburst of sympathy for an actor.

From Kyôhô period on to Meiji, there were three kabuki theatres, the “sanza,” of which the two oldest, Nakamura-za and Ichimura-za, were located along the single street of Sakai-chô Fukiya-chô (now Ningyô-chô 3-chôme).
(The Morita-za was in Kobiki-chô, some 2.5 km to the south, and rarely appeared in meisho-e.)

Here Masanobu shows us the view from the Sakai-chô end, with the Nakamura-za on the right; the play on the kanban here enables dating of the keikan to early spring (shoshun) Enkyô 2 (1745). Further down on the same side in Fukiya-chô is the Ichimuraza, and on the left are three ayatsuri-ningyô-koya. Some eight years later, Eisen shows the same place but from the opposite direction, with Ichimura-za on the front left, an ayatsuri-za on the right, and Nakamura-za in the distance.
The time is now autumn, at kaomise. It is intriguing to compare the two views to see what has changed, what has not.

Ten-odd years after Eisen’s print, on 10/7 of Tenpô 12 (1841), the Sakai-chô Fukiya-chô shibai-machi was destroyed by fire, and Mizuno Tadakuni, who had begun the Tenpô no kaikaku just five months before, refused to permit rebuilding on the same site. As a result, a new shibai-machi named Saruwaka-chô was constructed north of Asakusa Kannon, shown here by Hiroshige II in a view showing the three theaters in order of seniority on the west side of the machi: Nakamura, Ichimura, and Morita.source : www.columbia.edu

Sakai is a name given to many towns and villages in Japan, which are situated at a border, to another domain or village or region.

Sakai (堺市, Sakai-shi)
is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the Medieval era.
Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the 5th century. The largest of these, Daisen Kofun, is believed to be the grave of the Emperor Nintoku and is the largest grave in the world by area. Once known for samurai swords, Sakai is now famous for the quality of its kitchen knives; most high-quality Japanese cutlery originates in Sakai, and its production is a major industry in the city.

In the Muromachi Period Sakai was one of richest cities in Japan. Sakai is located on the edge of Osaka Bay and at the mouth of the Yamato River, which connected the Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture) to the sea. Sakai thus helped to connect foreign trade with inland trade.

Sakai was an autonomous city run by merchant citizens. In those days it was said that the richest cities were Umi no Sakai, Riku no Imai (tr. "along the sea, Sakai; inlands, Imai"; The latter is now a part of Kashihara, Nara). The famous Zen Buddhist priest Ikkyu chose to live in Sakai because of its free atmosphere. In the Sengoku Period some Christian priests, including St. Francis Xavier in 1550, visited Sakai and documented its prosperity.

opening a new tea jar
in a garden in Sakai -
full of dear memories Tr. Gabi Greve

Written in 1629 元禄5年初冬

Basho was invited to this ceremony in Edo, but he remembered the splendid tea ceremonies of Sen no Rikyu in Sakai, Osaka.
This hokku is a greeting to his rich host.

Kuchikiri no chaji 口切の茶事 (くちきり) opening the tea jar
kuchikiri, kuchi kiri 口切（くちきり)
kuchikiri chakai 口切茶会（くちきりちゃかい）Kuchikiri tea ceremony
now around November 16
It used to be the 30th day of the 9th lunar month.
Tea leaves picked in early summer are packed inside jars and mature until November. Now the jars are opened (kuchi kiri : open the mouth of the jar).
The leaves are then ground into powder for powdered green matcha.
At this tea ceremony, the tea is prepared using the first fresh powder.. WKD : Tea Ceremony Saijiki .

The Kabuki-za is back — with big ambitions and aspirations to make the nation’s classical theatrical entertainment more attractive to a 21st-century audience.

The reopened kabuki theater — now reconstructed for the fifth time — in the upscale shopping-entertainment district of Ginza, will roll out a new monthlong program from next Tuesday, three years after it was torn down to be replaced with a more earthquake-resistant structure.

The new building, designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, retains the Japanese-style facade of its previous incarnations, the first of which opened at the same site in 1889. Improvements include barrier-free toilets, and less seats at 1,808, but bigger ones that also offer a bit more leg room between the rows. The ticket booths are now located on the second basement floor, which is linked directly to Higashi-Ginza Subway Station and is complete with a souvenir shop and a cafe.source : Japan Times, March 29, 2013

Located to the Eastern side of Sanjugenborikawa (Sanjukken Canal) , from sub-district 1 to 7.
In the beginning of the Edo period, many construction workers using large timber saws 木挽 lived and worked here.

kobiki-noko 木挽鋸（こびきのこ） saw of a Kobiki worker

- quote - Kobiki Nokogiri and Temagari Nokogiri - Timber Saws
Kobiki-Nokogiri were used in ancient Japan for the rough ripping of logs into boards for carpenters and cabinetmakers. These saws were used by one man, in contrast to Europe, where typically two men used a ripsaw for similar purposes. To properly guide them in very long cuts, the blades of Kobiki-Nokogiri, also known as Maebiki-Nokogiri, were much wider than those of other saws. The saws were roughly made, and at times still showed the smith’s forge marks. Blades were laboriously hand-tapered from teeth to back to prevent jamming. - source : fine-tools.com/kobiki -

葛飾北斎 Katsushika Hokusai - 木挽 Kobiki cutting wood

In 1642, the 山村座 Yamamuraza Kabuki Theater was constructed in the 6th sub-district and
in 1660, the 森田座 Moritaza (Morita-Za) was constructed in the 5th sub-district.
But the Yamamura-Za was closed in 1714 due to the 絵島事件 "Ejima incident".
At that time there ware more than 16 Chaya tea houses in the district.

Since the Edo Period (1603-1867), kabuki has been an important source of national pride in Japan, and though it has undergone some key changes over the years, it remains a popular form of entertainment.

Curated to celebrate this April’s reopening of Tokyo’s Kabuki-za theater, which has been undergoing renovations for the past few years, this exhibition showcases a variety of kabuki-related works. Also on display are profile pictures of actors, as well as some of their personal belongings.

Seven compilations of acting reviews for kabuki shows performed in Nagoya during the Edo Period have been found in the storeroom of Misono-za, an old theater in the city that is under renovation.

These review books were published frequently for kabuki fans in Edo (the old name for Tokyo) and Osaka because those cities had booming entertainment industries. But it is rare to find them in other cities, and only four had been found so far in Nagoya.

Experts believe the recent discovery is proof that Nagoya used to be a place for the arts.

The reviews were discovered by Nanzan University professor Bunkichi Yasuda, 68, a specialist in the performing arts of Japan’s early modern period, and his wife, Noriko, 67, who is a professor at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University.

The couple found the reviews in a brown envelope at the back of the storeroom last August when they were sorting out documents at the theater’s request.

It is believed the seven books, measuring 10 cm by 16 cm and ranging in size from 20 to 80 pages, were written between 1747 and 1795. Each contained one to three reviews of kabuki plays performed in Nagoya.

One, titled “Yakusha Keikonou,” was produced in 1757 and discussed a show performed that year titled “Ise-Kaido Zeni Kake no Matsu.” It included illustrations of the actors and critiques of their performances.

Actor Sanokawa Hanatsuma, who played female roles and became popular in west Japan, received rave reviews in the book.

“Excellent performance. It was always as if a real woman was on stage and his movements were lithe,” one passage said.

The authors used pen names, such as Washo and Soseki, in signing the last page of the book.

Similarly, the author of another review book, titled “Yakusha Hyakuyakunocho,” went by the pen name Hakusho.

The authors are believed to be members of the merchant class who were experts on kabuki.

“They probably decided to make review books for Nagoya after viewing ones from Edo and Kyoto,” Bunkichi Yasuda said.

Muneharu Tokugawa, lord of the Owari clan in the early 18th century, was a fan and supporter of stage performances and festivals, which spurred the growth of entertainment culture in the region.

The seven books were written several decades later.

“I can feel the energy of the people (through these books). I think there were many people who were equally passionate about the arts as those from Edo and Kyoto,” Noriko Yasuda said.

The compilations became annual publications in Edo, Kyoto and Osaka in the 1700s, ranking each actor by performance and providing written reviews.

These documents provide valuable information on the history of theater in the Edo Period.

His father had adopted another boy of the family for his heir, so Kinshiro in his youth had no prospects for a good future and spent a lot of time in the pleasure quarters of Edo.During that time he might have acquired some tatoo like the men of the city used to favor.Only when the family heir died at an early age Kagemoto became the head of the family and started his career as a governor of Edo.

When his superior Mizuno tried to relocate the three Kabuki theaters to a far-away location, Toyama intervened on behalf of the people, since Kabuki was one of their few leisure activities at that time in Edo.

His real fame came later, when the Kabuki world was paying him back for his benevolence with a play in the Meiji area and the kodan story tellers took up the subject.And with the advent of TV series and movies, he became a real star in Japan.